In response to the widening academic achievement gap between Native American students and other students in the United States, a culturally responsive approach was used in a Native American social studies class with positive results. Eighth-grade Oglala Lakota students in an American History classroom experienced a unit infused with lessons that…

Africa is the cradle of civilization, yet its rich history and culture is undertaught--especially in elementary P-5 classrooms. In this article, we share Adinkra symbols from West Africa which can be used for interdisciplinary instruction and classroom management. We offer Adinkra symbols as an organizing theme for teaching in the spirit of not…

This article describes the use of student feedback questionnaires by history teacher license candidates in a classroom-based approach called "Conferring with Students." During the past five years, at a large public university in Massachusetts, 125 teacher candidates wrote their own feedback surveys, received responses from more than…

History courses based on chronological narratives in textbooks often assume a linear format through which students accumulate substantial amounts of surface-level information, with the various pieces of that information being disconnected from each other and from larger historical contexts. In addition, such narratives are often dry and lifeless,…

As pictorial-based social media (e.g., Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Tumblr) continue to encourage and sustain contemporary culture, the future success of America's democratic experiment may increasingly depend on its citizens' ability to critique visual information and take informed action. Promoting critical, historical analysis of…

Teachers of history (like all teachers) have a tool kit that holds all their methods and techniques and that allows them to construct a proper history lesson. This article proposes putting a tool into this kit that is generally missing from its contents. This tool supposedly belongs to the tool kit of a different subject teacher: the teacher of…

"Flipping" the Classroom techniques and the use of Embedded Writing Consultants (EWC) in institutions of higher education have been the subject of scholarly research in recent years. However, it appears that no studies have examined the simultaneous use of both "tools" in an introductory History course at the university level.…

Describes a curriculum development project developed in the United Kingdom to help students write histories based on local case studies. Topics discussed include reasons for writing local history, gathering historical evidence, primary source materials, procedures, and advantages of a local history project. (Author/DB)

Evaluates the importance of oral history in the social studies classroom. Concludes that oral history makes history more human and meaningful in everyday life and that it helps students gain insights into their heritage. Tips are offered on comparing life styles among generations; using songs, legends, and myths in the classroom; and analyzing…

Describes how to use student generated comments to motivate class discussion and curriculum change in high school modern European history courses. Explains a technique for improving student participation in the classroom through a technique (transactional evaluation) which involves introduction, comment generation, simple data processing, group…

Focuses on the importance of teaching religion in U.S. history courses. Discusses problems that teachers encounter when teaching religion, addresses the issue of students resisting learning about religion in the history classroom, and explores how teachers can reduce this resistance. Includes references. (CMK)

Explains free-market environmentalism, demonstrating how it is integral to environmental economics. Discusses issues such as market and government failures; the "tragedy of the commons"; and how to avoid said tragedy, focusing on the role of private property rights. Provides suggestions for history, social studies, and economics teachers on…

Introduces and celebrates a new series on Harold and Earle Rugg, founders of the National Council for the Social Studies. Includes the reprints of two articles by the Rugg brothers that appeared in the May 1921 issues of "The Historical Outlook" (the parent of today's "The Social Studies"). (CMK)

Examines the transplanting of curricular and instructional practices from the United States to the state educational system of Queensland (Australia) from 1969 to 1981. Provides an overview of the involvement of curriculum workers and the contextual influences that impacted their work. Discusses the educators' reaction to the social studies…

Described is a curriculum development effort in U.S. history--the "Reasoning with Democratic Values" series--aimed at stimulating higher-order thinking. Features of cognitive developmental psychology and of the new social studies materials are used in the lessons that ask students to examine and discuss ethical controversies. (RM)